The fog lifted as I approached it and revealed the familiar scene of my morning walk with just a little more sparkle thrown in. I do enjoy spring as the sun begins to warm the surroundings and everywhere green is bursting forth. I think of spring as a time to feel everything coming alive around me. I too want to feel more and burst out of my old ways. There are parts of me I want to encourage to be more empowered. I will explore some of those other parts in future blog entries.
Today I want to talk about a sense of humor. Life is way too important to take seriously. Seriousness can be terminal. There is so much going on in my life and I am sure yours also. One of the best ways to deal with the waves of stuff that come at us is to have a sense of humor. Humor is a wonderful gift we humans have been given to help us through life. When we can laugh at the difficulties then we can handle them better. Being able to laugh at ourselves is great because then we can let things go more easily.
I was playing golf the other day and I realized that having a sense of humor is incredible important if I am going to play this silly game. I have to be able to laugh at myself and my many mistakes or I will not enjoy what I am doing. Even the very best golfers including Tiger make lots of mistakes so humor is important to keep things in perspective. I like golf as a metaphor in which we take on a course of life and deal with the uneven terrain, the barriers and traps, the misfires and the great attempts and we just keep on going. We have a goal in mind and we can either enjoy the journey and laugh often or we can struggle and suffer. What sounds like a better choice? Of course it would be to laugh and enjoy as much as possible.
A cautionary note here: Sarcasm has it’s place in the world of humor but it can be tainted by anger or resentment so be aware of that.
Now your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to grow your sense of humor. Jokes are not necessary but can be helpful at times. There is plenty in life to laugh about if you allow yourself to see the humor in things and situations. Be open to enjoy each moment and allow the sense of humor to grow naturally in you as you observe yourself and the world around you. Humor is part of seeing life from a larger perspective and as I said earlier from being free of seriousness. It has been my experience in hanging around those that are “enlightened” is that they have a wonderful sense of humor. I suspect that the more enlightened (filled with light and lightness) we are the more we will laugh at life.
Laugh often and prosper.
"Everything's good...Everything. Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It is only that. That's all, that's all. If anyone finds out, he'll become happy at once, that minute."
FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY